Folding table with sectional top



Oct. 19, 1948. M. J. MlsKo FOLDING TABLE WITH SECTIONA'L TOP 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 25, 1946 d l x l l l i l ll 2 f /9 2 L c/ 1, MHummm C 1 f a A J 6 8 2./ f 5 5 l. v "En 7 J lif IIII L :L llllllll Moct. 19, 194s. M. J. Ml'sKo FOLDING TABLE WITH SECTIONAL TOP 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 25, 1946 Patented ct. 19, 1948 UNIT ED -STATfE-S l f T .OLP F ICE v.roLnINaffranticWITH sEc-.frIoNAL .Tor

vMichael J. lllisko-Inglewoodfalifl .AppueationlJanuary-iza194sseria1N0,.s43393 cclaims. (cmu-*89) This invention relates generallyto the class vof Y' l furniture andpertains particularly toV an improvedfolding table structure.

A primary object of the present .invention .is. to

provide va table ofv a rectangular form which is divided into -sectionswhich are adapted to'be folded one over the otherso ,as to reduce thetable to a small compact unitwhereby-it maybe conveniently transported.or stored away.

Another object of the invention' is to--provide a table `of the .typelcommonlyeemployed or,p1ay ing cards, which is .-divide'd. intofour.parts along perpendicular lines fand' wherein .the four parts aresojoined togethenthat.theymay'be. readily folded .up toliepne upon theother .so-that the completed `table structurewillbe reduced. to.approximately one-fourth of the originalsize, facilitating itsready.packing intoamotor vehicle or storage space, vor its convenienttransportation. from one place to another.

y Still vanother objectof the invention is topi-.o- Vide in a.foldingtablestructure Aof .thecharacter stated, .a novel hinge .unitfor.facilitating the separation oftwo portions ofthe table top andthefoidingof suchportions .together Yone over theother.

.The invention willbebest.understoodrom a consideration of the following.detailed "descriptiontaken in connection withthe accompanying drawings-forming' a part rof .the specification, with the understanding,however, that the inventionis not ,connedrtoa strict conformity with theshowing .of` thedrawings butmay. be changed or Inodi1ied..sov long asi,such changes .ormodications. mark no material 1 departure from. thesalient features of the invention as .expressed in the appended claims.

.In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a table constructed in accordancewith thepresentinvention and set upfor use;

Figure'2 is a View in top planand `on an enlarged. scale, of the tabletop, a portion of `the same being broken away to show the .hingecouplingbetween twosections and the legs vbeing shown in dotted outline beneaththe top;

Figure 3 is a view illustrating two, halves of the table .drawn apart.upon .the coupling hinge .and with one of the .quarter portionsofheachfhalf folded into position againstthe other-.quarter portions,preparatory to. foldingthetwohalf sections over one upon the othertothefposition shown. in `dotted outline:

Figure 4 is a sideviewrof thecou-plingzhinge bar;

` tion of the hinge bar in association with the pivoted locking member;

.Figure Slis a detailed longitudinalsection.ofone ofthe extensible legs;

'.Figure9 is a sectional view taken substantiallyv of the type known asa pianohingeis. preferred and is illustrated in'Fgure'. Thus it will beseen thatwhile the table top as a whole is made upzoffour sections, itis actually 'divided into two separable portions which are designated 3and M, Athe portion IBbeing madeup of thetwo quarters A and B and theportion Ill being made up of 'the two quarters C and D. j

The opposingsides of .thetwo portions i3 and i4 are bordered upon theunder side ofthe' top panel I5 by the flanges I6 and the outerfsides ofthe sections have upon the under sides ofthe panels,.the outsideencircling anges I1 which, whenthe top is setup for use as shown inFigure 1, make .the usual complete bordering flange for the table top.

In the angle formedat each corner ofthetop by the bordering. flanges'11, ,a .suitablehinge bracket I8lis secured, between one portionlofwhich and the inner side of a bordering flange l"l`ispivotally mountedvthe upper.end of a two u part telescopingleg I9.

the locking pin 24 which' is .carried by 1a spring leaf 25 upon theupper leg section and extends through a suitable aperture for engagementin one of the notches 23 as shown in Figure 8. Thus it will be seen thatwhen the legs I9 are shortened to the desired extent each one may befolded into position against the under side of the top panel of thequarter section to which it is hingedly attached and consequently thesesections may be folded one against the other byv means of the hingeconnections II and I2, as shown in Figure 3 and the legs will be housedbetween them. When it is desired to use the table the legs can beextended after being swung down to a position rperpendicular with thetable top, merely by pulling outwardly upon the portions 2| thereofuntil the desired length is obtained.

The opposing flanges I6 of the sections A and C have formed therethroughcoinciding openings 26 and secured to the under sides of the adjacentpanels I5 and at opposite sides of the openings 26, are the spacedparallel guide bars 21, each of which abuts at one end against the innerside of a flange I6 and each of which has formed in its inner edge aguide slot 28. The bars 21 of one section are in alignment with thecorresponding bars of the adjacent section and they receive between themthe three part coupling hinge generally designated 29, and whichcornprises the central section 30 and the end section 3| which arehingedly joined to the central section by the hinge members 32 so thatthe sections may be disposed in end aligned relation or may be foldedinwardly onto or toward the center section as desired. This hinge barextends transversely of the space between the opposing flanges I6,through the laligned openings 26 so that one end section 3| 'and aportion of the central section 30 lies between the two guide bars 21under one table top section and the other hinge bar end portion 3| and apart of the central portion 36 lies between the guide bars 21 of theadjacent top section.

Each of the hinge bar parts 3| carries in its opposite edges, themovement limiting pins 33. These pins slidablyengage in the slots orchannels 28 of the adjacent guide bars 21 and they are limited in theirmovement outwardly in the channels `by the flanges I6 as illustrated inthe Figures 2 and 9.

One of the guide bars 21 of each pair carried by a table top section Aand C, has pivotally mounted in a recess 34, Figure 7, an eccentriclocking wedge 3 5. The eccentric wedge is mounted upon the pivot 36 andit has an arm 31 by means of which it may be oscillated to extend thetapered or wedge portion 35 inwardly where it will be forced beneath theadjacent portion 3l of the hing-e bar and the guide as shown in Figure5. Thus the hinge part 3| will be wedged tightly against movement andthe adjacent quar- -ter section of the table top will be locked to thehinge bar. When it is desired to shift the top section the arm 31 isoscillated in the proper direction to withdraw the wedge locking edge 35and the table top portion may then be drawn outwardly on the locking endaway from the other portion and when the locking members of bothportions are released i-t will be seen that such portions I3 and I4 canbe readily separated so as to move the hinged ends of the "hinge baraway from their respective top portions to the extent illustrated inFigure 3.

The qu-arter sections B and D may be suitably coupled together so as toestablish a rigid connection between them when the table top is set 4 upfor use, by the provision of aligned pairs of guide bars 38 upon theunder sides of the top panels I5, corresponding to the guide bars 21 andslidably mounted between 4these guide bars 38 to extend across the jointor space between the quarter sections B and D is a single piece rigidcoupling bar 39. The spaced guides 3B upon one of the quarter sectionsis of suicient length to receive the entire coupling 4bar 39, thusallowing the quarter sections to be independently swung into positionagainst the parts A and C to which they are respectively coupled by thehinges and I2. After the two table portions I3 and I4 have beenseparated and quarter sec- -tions B and D have been swung to positionbeneat-h the adjacent respective sections A and C so that the structureappears as it is shown in full lines'in Figure 3, one of the portionsmay then be swung on the double hinge bar 429 into the dotted outlineposition shown in Figure 3 to produce 'the completely folded tablestructure.

From the foregoing it will be readily 'apparent -that there has beenprovided in the present invention, a novel table structure which can bereadily folded into a small compact unit for storage, transportation orother easy handling and which lmay be easily and quickly unfolded andset up for use to provide a rigid and safe table for any desired use.

I claim:

l. A folding table `comprising `a Itop divided along two right angularlyrela-ted lines to form four sections, hinge means disposed on one ofsaid lines and coupling the sections together in pairs to for-m `the topin two portions, the sections of one portion -being foldable against thesections of lthe other portion along `one of said lines, a pair of`opposed guides carried by adjacent sections of the -two portions andalined tran-sversely of the other one -of the two division lines, ahinge lbar slidably supported between the said guides and across thedivision between the two portions and comprising a long center part andend `parts each h'ingedly connected to an end of the center part, asliding coupling Ibetween opposite longitudinal edges of each en-d partof the hinge bar and a pair of guides of one section whereby the centerpart of the hinge bar may be vdisposed in a position between the -two-table portions upon separation of one portion from the other, means forlocking the end parts of the hinge bar to the guides when the two tableportions are moved together on the hinge bar, means for establishing arigid connection between the other two sections of the two tableportions when the portions and sections are in a common plane, and a legcarried by each of said sections.

2. A folding table of lthe character stated in claim l, wherein saidguides are in the form of spaced parallel strips secured to theunderside of the table top and having longitudinal slots in theiropposed faces, lan-d the said sliding coupling between the oppositelongitudinal edges of Ithe end parts of the hinge anda pair of guidesconstituting pin members carried by said longitudinal edges and slidablyengaging in said slots.

v3. A folding table of the character stated in claim l, in which thesaid means for locking the end parts of the -hinge bar to the guides,comprises an eccentrically pivoted plate supported upon a guide of eachpair and adapted when oscillated in one direction to move Iin-to wedgingengagement with a longitudinal edge of an adjacent end part of the hingebar.

4. A folding table of the character stated in claim 1, wherein each pairor guides comprises relatively long spaced parallel strips secured tothe underside of -a top section, said strips having slots formedlongitudinally in the opposed inner faces thereof, the said par-ts ofthe hinge "par being `flat and interposed 'between the grooved edges ofthe guide strips and adapted to Ilie in a common plane against theunderside of the tabl-e top when the portions of the table top are in acommon plane, the sliding coupling between each end part of the hingebar and a pair of guides comprising pins carried in the oppositelongitudinal edges of the end parts and slidably engaged in said slots.

5. A folding table of the 4cliaracter stated in claim 1, wherein ea-chpair of guides comprises relatively long spaced parallel strips securedt-o the underside of a t'op section, said strips having slots formedlongitudinally in the opposed inner faces thereof, the said parts of thehinge bar being flat and interposed between the grooved edges of theguide strips and adapted to lie in a common piane against the undersideof the table top when the portions of the table top are in la commonplane, the sliding coupling between each end part yof the hinge bar anda pair of guides comprising pins carried in the opposite longitudinaledges of the end parts and slid-ably engaged in Isaid slots, the s-aidslots of the two pairs of guides opening through the ends of the guideswhich are adjacent to the ends of the opposite pair, flanges extendingalong the adjacent edges of the t-op sections and each having anopeningthrough lwhich the hinge 'bar extends, the iianges extendingacross and closing Ithe open ends of the slots of the guides.

6, A fol-ding table of the character stated in c-laim 1, wherein eachpair of guides comprises relatively long spaced parallel strips securedto the underside of a top section, said strips having slots formedlongitudinally in Lthe opposed inner faces'thereof, the vsaid par-ts of-the hinge bar 'being ila-t and interposed between the grooved edges ofthe guide strips and adapted to lie in a common plane against theunderside of the table top when the -portions lof the table top are in acommon plane, the sliding coupling between each end part of the hingeVpar and a pair of guides compris-ing pins carried in the oppositelongitudinal edges of the end parts and slidably engaged in sai-d slots,and said means for locking the end parts of the hinge bar to the guidescomprising a plate member having a tapered rounded edge andeccentrically pivotally mounted upon a guide of each pair and adaptedwhen oscillated in one direction to have said tapered edge projectedinwardly toward and in binding .engagement with the adjacenten-d part ofthe hinge bar to lock the latter against movement.

MICHAEL J. MISKO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

